


For Yana

by CheetahLeopard2



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Burnish Galo Thymos, Childhood Friends, M/M, Secret Marriage, Secret Relationship, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27293440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheetahLeopard2/pseuds/CheetahLeopard2
Summary: 1- Burnish Galo, secretly married galolio rewrite of canon scenes + some extra, 5,090 words2- Burnish Galo, childhood friends reunited, 513 words3- Galolio writing-on-skin soulmates, canon scenes rewrite, 2,050 words4- Galo's mom's alive, post-canon, 1,061 words
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YanaWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YanaWrites/gifts).



> I'm posting this for the lovely Yana

The smoke blows away, and Mad Burnish are revealed.

 _Shit._ Galo thinks eloquently.

He catches the tail end of Ignis telling him to get out of there over the sound of blood rushing in his ears, and he voices an affirmative, turning away to follow Aina off the building.

Before he can, there’s the roaring of Gueira’s ATV, Miami, and Meis’s bike, Dallas, and flames blocking his path.

Luckily, the first part of the mech destroyed is the helmet- and therefor communications.

The revving of engines stalls around him for a moment when Galo yells, “This was new! Gueira you ASSHOLE!”

There’s a moment of recognition, Galo standing in plain view attop the wrecked mech, and Meis and Gueira stop circling.

“What are you _doing_!?” Gueira’s bafflement spurs Galo into crossing his arms and glaring.

“Rescuing people!”

There’s a moment of silence.

“I mean, fair,” Meis says, barely loud enough for Galo to hear before his heart stutters at another sound.

“Galo!” comes from the mech, and Galo stiffens. He thought communications were in the helmet, “how do yo-”

 _‘Attack me!’_ Galo mouths at the generals, and Gueira wastes no time in screaming and throwing a flare at the mech.

“Lucia! Ready?” Galo bellows as he dodges, effectively cutting off Remi’s question.

“Yep!”

Galo equips the Matoi, and in the center of the whirlwind around him he catches the slightest flash of green.

Lio’s small flame conveys the plan to him, and Galo yells out, “Ready to get _beat?”_ in an affirmation that Burning rescue wouldn’t catch.

The fight is fairly quick, at least against Meis and Gueira, who are clearly downplaying their skills a bit too much. Galo would be insulted by it, but they don’t know the specs of his mech in relation to his skills with his own armour.

Lio goes all out, and Galo would certainly have lost if not for the fact that he’s not alone.

He pretends to treasure the medal on his chest, pretends not to know the truth about Kray- put together in bits and pieces over the years after his burnish awakening.

“Pizza?” he asks when the ceremony’s over, and the rest of Burning Rescue squad 3 cheers.

“Oh, by the way Galo,” Remi asks somewhere between Galo’s 4th and 7th pizza, “How’d you know that burnish’s name?”

Galo pauses, a pizza slice halfway to his mouth. He looks down at his plate with a frown, “I’ve had a couple of run-ins with him and Mei- the other one, before.”

Everyone leans in with interest, and Galo shrugs, “It’s not like this is the first time they’ve set fires in Primepolis.”

There are grumbles of assent around the table, before Lucia begins a conversation about how not all burnish are terrorists that honestly warms Galo’s heart.

That warmth disappears when Freeze Force takes Ray the pizzamaker. And though Galo tried, he was powerless to stop them.

He makes a frustrated sound, ruffling his hair to make sure he doesn’t let any sparks out before rushing off on his bike.

He knows Aina is following him, so he keeps his burnish impulses under control- taking a long route to the coldest place he can think of.

When he sees a burnish flare streaking across the sky, he doesn’t point it out.

Aina heads home after another 20 minutes, and Galo waits for the sound of her bike to fade into the far distance before he grabs the canned food he stashed on his bike and summons his armour to head to the cave.

He arrives just as Meis and Gueira are leaving. They glare at him for a few seconds before Galo opens his arms and instead of hugging him, Gueira punches his stomach and puts him a headlock, laughing quietly as Meis ruffles his hair.

“We’ve gotta get trucks,” Meis pulls away to summon Dallas, and Gueira takes a seat behind him.

“Boss’s in the back, good luck!” Gueira winks, and then they’re gone.

Galo takes a few deep breaths before heading into the cave with a call of, “I brought food!”

He turns a corner into the main cavern and immediately has to duck Lio’s punch.

“Galo?!” Lio drops his fists, narrowing his eyes, “what’re you doing here?”

Galo holds up his grocery bag full of canned and processed goods, “I brought food!” he repeats, beaming.

Lio sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Okay.”

Galo greets the confused burnish, before his gaze settles on- he makes a high pitched sound in the back of his throat, “Thyma?”

Lio looks with narrowed eyes between Thyma- heavily bandaged and breathing weakly- and Galo, “How-”

“I was there for her awakening,” Galo’s voice wavers.

Thyma’s eyes open briefly at that, and Galo goes to sit by her, “I know there’s no medical way to-” his voice trails off and he gently squeezes her hand as Lio sits by her other side.

They nod at each other, and the other burnish in the cave watch in awe as Galo places a hand on Lio’s back, pushing more fire into him as Lio breathes flames into Thyma’s lungs.

She’ll make it until they reach the settlement.

Meis and Gueira arrive soon after with trucks, and Galo waves them off before heading back to the station himself.

No one questions how late he gets back- as long as it wasn’t his shift he didn’t owe them an explanation. Plus, Aina probably told them that he went beyond city limits to cool his head.

A few days pass, mostly uneventful except for a couple of old-fashioned kitchen fires, before Galo has a chance to go out into the desert again.

Remi and Varys are in the kitchen area when Galo makes his way downstairs to grab toast and check the calendar.

“Hey, Galo,” Varys greats from the stove, “Are you gonna want pancakes?”

“Yeah!” Galo exclaims, then, “Oh, wait. No, I gotta leave soon.”

Remi looks up from his book, “It’s around that time of year, isn’t it.”

Galo swallows a piece of toast, his throat going dry and his eyes stinging a bit, “Yeah..”

Remi places his book down gently on the table before beckoning Galo into a hug, Varys joining soon after.

His parents died around this time, almost 18 years ago now. He still hasn’t figured out the cause of the fire, and his awakening happened almost a solid decade later.

He smiles shakily into Remi’s shoulder and pats Varys’s arm, before they release him.

“I’ll be back by 10 tonight,” Galo promises, waving behind him before steering his motorcycle out of the station.

He veers off the road when he deems himself far enough from Promepolis city limits, summoning his armour and enhancing his bike with flames.

He drives aimlessly across the desert sands for a while, giving in to the urge to _burn burn burn_ , blue flames blazing up from his helmet.

He calls out with his flames to the distinct feeling of _Lio_ that he can pick out among the whispers of the flames of the other burnish, and smiles when he feels a tug on his soul in response.

* * *

It’s a couple days later when he feels it- a surge of fury that can only belong to Lio.

It’s intense and sudden enough that Galo’s vision flares white and the air feels like it’s punched out of his lungs, and he falls to his knees, choking.

He presses a hand to his heart, forcing himself to relax enough to force air into his lungs. He can feel the urge to lash out in blazing panic, and he forces it down as best he can, eyes screwed shut against the fury that quickly translates into anguish and a chill like none Galo’s ever felt before.

When he comes back to himself enough to open his eyes, the first thing he registers are the AED patches stuck to his chest and side and a robotic voice saying that a shock is not advised- continue compressions, before Remi leans into his field of vision with his hands in position for compressions.

Galo quickly reaches up and grabs Remi’s wrist, successfully silencing the room.

He sits up carefully and turns off the AED, wincing at the feeling of his ribs knitting back together.

“Ow,” he mutters, and everyone stares as he shakily stands up.

Lio’s still sending out distress and fury in equal measure, and Galo sets his jaw. He’ll raid Kray Foresight’s building if he has to do it alone.

Before he can take a step, Ignis’s voice cuts through his thoughts, “Galo you need to go to the hospital.”

“I’m fine-” Galo begins to protest, but Ignis cuts him off.

“Even if you didn’t just have a heart attack right in front of us,” he starts pointedly, and Galo realizes he has no way to dispute it was a heart attack, “You probably have a few cracked or broken ribs from Remi helping you.”

“I-” Galo cuts himself off, because he has no way to dispute any of that without revealing he’s a burnish.

Lio’s fury peaks in that moment, chill leaving his bones abruptly and leaving Galo more worried than he thought he could be even as he crumples to his knees with a scream of despair that’s matched by the blaring of the siren.

Ignis quickly instructs Remi to stay with Galo as the rest of them jolt into action.

Galo does his best to process what’s happening as Remi guides him to the couch and the station falls silent.

Remi’s hands are shaking, “What the hell is going on Galo?”

Galo clenches his fist and bows his head, “They’re going to die.”

“The squad won’t-”

“Not the squad,” Galo raises his head to meet Remi’s eyes, so Remi can see his tears, “Kray Foresight is using the burnish, and then they’re going to die.”

“Galo, what are you-” Remi scowls, “You just had a heart attack and now you don’t know what you’re saying,” his expression turns vaguely pleading, “Please just… rest.”

Galo looks at one of Lucia’s screens behind Remi, and his eyes narrow at the dragon making its way through the city, a blue flame streaking from the eye.

Remi turns, following his gaze, “The team’s got it handled, Galo.”

The radio crackles, “Remi!” It’s Ignis, “Get Galo to a hospital and join us!”

Remi replies an affirmative, and Galo is ushered to Remi’s car.

Galo is dropped at the steps of the hospital, and Remi watches him go inside before he drives away.

Galo turns right back out the door and starts running, his hair blazing up behind him and armour melding around him, summoning his bike. Towards Lio.

Unfortunately, towards Lio means towards the tell-tale flashing lights of the Rescue Mobile.

He speeds past as quickly as he can, his blue-and-white streaked armour catching far more attention than he would have liked.

He pulls even with Ignis’s car just as Lio comes into view, spiraling up the Foresight Foundation building.

Galo pushes flames in front of him to form a ramp, and he revs his engine, leans forward- and jolts sideways as his front tire is encased in ice.

“Fuck!” he screams, pulling the flames from his wrecked bike back into himself, turning to glare at Varys’s familiar mech.

There’s a momentary standoff, before Lio’s voice rings out, “KRAY FORESIGHT!”

Galo swipes his hand, a wall of flames separating him from Burning rescue, and sets his arms straight down his sides, using flames to propel him into the sky.

He smashes into Lio, who screams at him to, “Stay out of it!”

“Sorry, babe,” Galo says, breaking the bubble of ice around Lio, “Burnish don’t kill.”

They burst out of the ice- directly into what Galo recognizes as the hatch in Aina’s plane.

Lio seems to come back to himself at that, and Galo can feel the shard of fury melt into anguish that seeps from Lio’s flames into his own. Lio summons his armour, and they huddle together until they feel the plane landing.

Aina opens the back hatch, depositing them onto the surface of the frozen lake, before appearing herself, freeze gun drawn in front of her.

Galo pushes his idea of escape at Lio, who nods.

Aina shoots just as Galo and Lio burst into flames, the ice beneath them disappearing into steam as they drop.

The entire lake disappears, Deux Prometh tells his story, and the Deus X Machina takes flight.

It’s only after Aina flies off to connect her radio to the Parnassus that Galo drops his armour with a sigh of relief.

Lio ruffles his hair with one hand as they approach, “Thanks Galo.”

Galo smiles, big and wide, his flames whisping back to meld with Lio’s for a second, “We look out for our own, love.”

Galo waits until he feels Lio’s flames heat up a bit before adding, “My burning soul couldn’t leave yours hanging!”

Lio laughs softly, before the sound is cut off by the sight of the massive ship before them.

The battle commences.

Finally, the engine shutters to a stop, finally they defeat the Krayzer X, finally. Galo learns the truth of the fire that killed his family.

Kray forces Galo off the ledge with fire, and takes Lio to power the core.

Galo sits up surrounded by Burning Rescue. All of them are clearly confused about what’s going on, even having seen Kray take Lio.

Galo doesn’t waste any time. Lucia sets him up with a drill and backup Matoi- honestly bless Lucia, she’s his best friend (he could have gotten to the core on his own, but he’s not quite ready to reveal he’s burnish- even though Aina’s probably putting the pieces together).

By the time he’s there, Kray has started the engine, and Galo can feel everyone’s pain much more intensely now that he’s closer.

Kray does his best to kill him- and Galo can’t help but look fondly at the blue and green flame in his hand, “Lio’s flames helped protect me. As they always have. I’m going to save him, and the world, and put you away for life.” His punch knocks Kray out.

Lio… isn’t doing so well. His body is fading into ash quickly, and Galo can barely feel Lio’s flames flickering in his heart.

Galo takes the flame- the muddle of blue and green that’s reminiscent of the blaze they created when they married, bonding their souls and flames- and puts it in his mouth.

He tilts Lio’s chin up and presses their lips together, his tears falling gently on Lio’s face as he breathes life back into him.

It works, and Lio pushes what the Promare told him in the pod into Galo’s conscience.

Together, they light the world ablaze.

They stand together, looking over the beginning of the changed world, when they hear Ignis behind them, “Galo!”

Galo winces and turns slowly, his head hung.

“Why aren’t you at the hospital?” Ignis is frowning, and Lio follows suit.

“Hospital?”

“He had a heart attack and collapsed at the station while you were going on your rampage,” Aina walks up, Galo’s jacket in hand, which Lio takes gratefully.

Lio visibly relaxes, “I mean that was probably just-” Lio’s mouth is covered by Galo’s hand, which Galo quickly removes when Lio side-eyes him.

“I’ll go get checked out after we open the pods,” Galo promises, but Ignis puts his foot down.

“You will get checked out _now_. And Lio, once you tell us how best to handle this it’s a good idea for you to be looked at too.”

Lio scowls, but acquiesces nonetheless. He gives a few orders about how to reassure the burnish, writes down the death rites they should say when they find a pod with nothing but ash, and tells Ignis to trust his generals with the rest.

Galo and Lio are cleared, only having surface wounds and fatigue, and they return to help with the pods.

When they arrive, they’re surprised to see familiar armour- Meis and Gueira and other burnish have their armour of fire on.

They quickly realize the burnish can still control fire. They don’t heal quickly anymore, and they aren’t as perpetually warm, but whatever the Promare unlocked in them that allowed them to manipulate the flames stayed unlocked- even though regular fire isn’t sentient.

When Meis and Gueira spot them, they drop their armour and start running in their direction.

Lio’s nearly bowled over by Meis, and Galo ends up catching Gueira and spinning him around a couple of times to kill the momentum.

There’s only a few seconds before Galo feels Lio’s emotions flip from happy to pissed.

“Uh oh spaghettios,” he mutters under his breath a split-second before Lio punches Meis in the shoulder hard enough that he stumbles back into Guiera.

“What were you two THINKING?!” Lio shouts, sparks flying from his clenched fists, “Never sacrifice yourselves for me _ever again_!”

“It worked out, though,” Gueira says with all the guall in the world, and Lio makes an unintelligible sound of fury, reaching out towards Gueira as Meis leans away as subtly as possible.

“I mean, he’s not wrong.”

The three of them freeze and turn slowly to Galo.

“Run,” is all the warning Galo gets from Lio, and he uses it.

Lio stays where he is, watching Galo run towards the rest of Burning Rescue, before turning back to Meis and Gueira.

“We know, boss,” Meis says before Lio can open his mouth, “We’re sorry.”

Gueira pulls Lio into a crushing hug, and Meis joins a split second later.

“Alright,” Lio pulls away, wiping at his eyes a bit, “Let’s get everyone out.”

They form their armour and get back to work, Galo mentally informing Lio that he’s working in the medical tents that have been set up.

It’s halfway through the 2nd day when Lio finds Thyma.

 _Galo I need you to come get Thyma._ he sends through his soul, frowning at how she slumps into his arms, breath weak.

Although she’d mostly healed with the Promare within a few days of reaching the settlement, she was still having issues when Freeze Force showed up. She was strong enough to last through until now, but she still seems worse off than most of the others they’ve freed.

Galo sprints up to him a couple of minutes later, “Sorry, I had to make an excuse about you telling me to meet up.”

Lio nods, and eases Thyma into Galo’s arms, “Hurry.”

Galo adjusts his grip and runs back to the medical tent.

Lio runs a hand through his hair before reforming his armour to slice open more pods.

A couple more hours go by like this, before he gets a happy buzz from Galo.

Heris successfully got the ship’s systems working enough to open all the pods collectively.

After a final round of checking to make sure all the pods opened without issue (not all of them were undamaged, and Lio had to manually open a few more), Lio lets his armour melt away, and promptly collapses into his husband’s arms.

* * *

A Few Months Later

* * *

Meis, Gueira, and Lio have become regular fixtures at the station, having turned over most of the legal side of reintegration to burnish who had been lawyers and city planners before their awakenings. The three of them have taken to helping out around the station with meals and cleaning, in between being the public face of the burnish and helping with reconstruction.

Lio moved into Galo’s room at the station almost immediately, and Meis and Gueira have also claimed a room at the station.

Overall, everything’s going better than anyone would have expected.

And then Gueira happens.

They’re all relaxing in the main area of the station in varying degrees of wakefulness, when Aina asks about the tattoos on Meis and Gueira’s arms.

“Oh, we got married the regular way before we got married the burnish way. These were easier than rings,” Meis explains calmly, sitting on the floor in front of Gueira’s chair while Gueira braids his hair.

Varys falls off his chair, Remi drops his book, Lucia bites her tongue, Ignis chokes on his tea, and Aina nearly knocks over her nail polish bottle.

Overall, everyone except Galo and Lio are surprised.

“You guys are _married_?” Varys climbs back into the armchair, “I mean, that’s sweet but uh.”

“Unexpected,” Remi jumps in, picking up his book and leaning back.

“Why?” Gueira asks, “It’s not like we’re the only married people here.” He looks up from Meis’s hair at the resulting silence.

Lio is glaring daggers at him, Galo hiding his face in Lio’s hair as everyone slowly turns to where they sit on the couch.

“Oh shit. I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?” Gueira chuckles nervously.

“Aren’t you boys moving a little fast?” Ignis asks, slowly.

“We aren’t uh. Legally married,” Galo says weakly.

“Yet,” Lio hisses, closing his eyes.

“Yet,” Galo says, reaching behind him to pull a ring out of his back pocket and falling off the couch to roll onto one knee.

“Lio Fotia-Thymos, I know you literally asked me this forever ago but it’s my turn to propose.”

Aina makes a squeaking sound, and the rest of Burning Rescue 3 agrees.

“You’re in my heart, my lungs, my burning soul. Will you marry me? Legally?”

“Holy shit,” Lucia cackles, phone out as Lio flicks a spark at Galo’s nose.

“Of course, you blue-flaming idiot.”

“Okay, again. Aren’t you boys moving a bit fast? Galo you’re 22, and Lio, you’re-” Ignis pauses, and Lio fills in the blank for him.

“Twenty-three.”

“and you’ve known each other for maybe a couple months.” Ignis stops to consider his next words, but before he can Meis starts _cackling_.

“Meis, Meis shut up!” Gueira hisses, clearly holding back laughter himself.

Galo rests his head against Lio’s knee, and Lio runs a hand through his hair soothingly.

“Alright!” Galo says, shooting upright, “I’m gonna go run around in the desert!” he points dramatically at Lio, “You can come!” He turns to Lucia, “You can come if you send me the proposal video!” He turns to Gueira and Meis, “You two will keep your mouths shut!”

And then he turns and runs into the garage, the sound of a bike revving following seconds later.

“See ya, suckers~” Lio waves, before walking into the garage, the unmistakable sound of Detroit following them down the road.

—

—

Aina walks into the break room to see the former Mad Burnish members in a huddle, along with Thyma and Ray.

“Uhhhh?” Every head turns to her, and she can practically _feel_ the weight of their stares until Lio turns back dismissively.

“Sorry, Burnish meeting.”

Aina can’t help the shred of suspicion she feels, but then Galo bounds in behind her and is beckoned into the huddle.

He wouldn’t let them do anything _too_ terrible.

“Ohhh I’m off tomorrow, we can go to the outskirts then!” Galo exclaims, just loud enough for Aina to hear as she walks up the stairs.

That’s… slightly concerning.

~the next day~

“Why are we out here again?” Remi asks, staring slightly judgmentally at the binoculars Aina pulls from her bag.

“Because yesterday there was a ‘burnish only’ huddle that Galo joined and Galo said they could go to the ‘outskirts’ on his day off.”

“So basically,” Remi sighs, “you don’t trust Galo’s judgement.”

Aina frowns, tapping her foot in thought, “It’s not so much I don’t trust his _judgement…_ more his impulse control.”

Remi tilts his head a bit and fixes her with a _look_ and she flushes, snapping, “You’re here too!”

Remi shrugs, “Maybe I don’t trust _your_ judgement,” he says, before playfully punching her shoulder.

She huffs, and turns back to the desert. After a moment, Remi does the same, “Oh, here they come.”

Lio’s bike reaches the desert first, Galo behind him on the seat. A few seconds later, Meis’s bike hits the sand and Guiera jumps off the back, does a flip, and summons his (non street-legal) ATV.

Galo lets out a loud _whoop_ at the trick, and Lio clearly shakes his head in amusement.

Thyma and Ray follow, and soon they’re far out enough that Aina has to use her binoculars.

Beside her Remi sighs, giving in to the fact that they’re spying on their friends.

A good mile or so into the desert, Galo stands up, balancing on the back of Detroit.

Remi takes a sharp inhale and Aina curses, “Fuckin’ oh my gods! Why isn’t Lio stopping?!”

“He’s not gonna fall, he’s not going to,” Remi repeats to himself, leaning forwards so his elbows his the railing as he adjusts his binoculars.

He’s right- because Galo squats back down in clear preparation to jump.

“Gal-” is all Remi manages to hiss before Galo jumps.

Aina shrieks, nearly dropping the binoculars as Galo launches himself into a backflip before-

Landing on a newly-formed bike, white with blue flames that match his hair spitting out of the tires.

Galo laughs and points at Gueira, who playfully swerves at him, shaking a fist.

Aina lowers her binoculars shakily, and Remi does the same, and they slowly turn to each other.

“Holy shit,” Remi breathes, and Aina nods, eyes wide as saucers.

They sink to the floor, sitting in silence for a few minutes before Remi speaks.

“Is it just me-” he falters for a second, “or does that bike look like that one burnish we saw when Lio was a dragon?”

“Fuck.” Aina says, with feeling.

“Fuck,” Remi echos.

When the burnish get back, they’re all laughing and shoving at each other, joking with each other about who won what race. Loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that they’re causing a ruckus.

Remi and Aina have long since returned, and are sitting on their phones across from each other at the large table in the kitchen.

They glance up when Thyma and Ray say goodbye, each giving a half-hearted wave and pretending that they aren’t frantically texting each other. Gueira heads off with Galo to spar after Meis rolls his eyes at them with a, “You guys have too much pent-up energy.”

Lio watches them leave, and when they’re far enough out of earshot turns to Aina and Remi with a serious look on his face.

Meis rolls his eyes and walks over to make himself coffee and Lio flips around a chair and sits with his arms crossed over the back of it, “So.”

Remi and Aina make eye contact with each other and slowly lower their phones face-down to the table.

“What’s up?” Aina asks, keeping the panic out of her voice relatively well.

Lio glowers at them, and they brace for the worst.

To their surprise, instead of yelling at them for spying, Lio’s ears go bright red, “Can you help with the wedding?”

They must sit in shocked silence for too long, because Lio starts rambling, “I don’t really know how normal weddings go or the legal stuff we have to file or-”

“Yes!” Aina exclaims, loud and sudden enough that Meis jolts in surprise and nearly spills his coffee as he comes to sit down.

Remi pulls a notebook from the edge of the table, “First things first- do you want a ceremony?”

“Is that. Not a wedding?” Lio asks, taken aback.

“Well,” Remi pauses, choosing his words, “you can go down to a courthouse and sign a marriage certificate with a judge and witnesses, and then you’re legally married. A ceremony is usually a cultural bonding in addition to the legal piece. And there are many different types of ceremonies- most of which follow a religious tradition, and also some of which are from different parts of the world, and a lot that are mixes of those two.”

Lio looks entirely overwhelmed, and Aina takes pity on him, “What are burnish weddings like?”

“Most are really private,” Lio begins, “it depends on the couple, but generally they’ll exchange promises and, if possible, an item with a lot of sentimental value. And then they’ll exchange and merge flames and souls.”

He pauses, a faraway look in his eyes, “Most burnish weddings are small, and there usually aren’t witnesses. Ours was a bit different.”

Lio smiles softly, absentmindedly tracing designs with his finger on the back of the chair. Aina and Remi lean forward in interest, and Meis leans back in his chair with a nostalgic grin.

“Galo had just turned 20, and I’d only become the leader of Mad Burnish a few months before. Meis and Gueira were getting curious about all the times I snuck into the city without burning anything, and Galo wanted to meet them, so he surprised me,” Lio chuckles a bit.

“He rode right into the middle of camp with all of the canned food he had managed to collect in a few months. I proposed that night, and Meis and Gueira were there when we exchanged promises, and Galo gave me earrings that belonged to his mom that they found in the rubble of his house. I didn’t have anything to give him, but he didn’t care. When our souls bonded, I’d never been so happy.”

Lio shrugs, “we met up when we could over the next year, and then he joined you guys. We talked regularly enough, though we couldn’t meet in person.”

They swallow when Lio looks up to meet their eyes, “You all make him really happy.”

Remi seems ready to cry, “That’s really sweet.”

Aina nods, before scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, “What does it mean to bond your soul, though?”

“It means you can,” Meis waves a hand in the air, “feel each other. Like, emotions and stuff.”

Aina and Remi stare blankly.

“It’s not a non-burnish thing, then?” Lio asks, before paling.

“You good?” Meis asks as Galo bursts into the room.

“Lio! Who’s hurt?”

Aina and Remi stiffen, “Oh yeah uh.”

“We know you’re a burnish, Galo,” Remi confesses, just as Ignis and Lucia walk in.

“W _HAT?!”_ Lucia shrieks, and Lio’s head hits the table with a quiet _thunk_.

One _long_ conversation later, Ignis brings up a whole different issue.

“Lio, someone in Detroit called, asking for you by name.”

Lio frowns, “Is it urgent enough that we can’t get married legally first?”

Ignis considers, “If you get married tomorrow and leave the day after you should be fine.”

“Great. Decision made for us. No ceremony this time,” Lio turns to Galo, who shrugs.

“Fine by me.”


	2. Chapter 2

Meis and Gueira spot him first- the burnish with blue flames jutting out of his helmet. He’s not far from where Mad Burnish have set up camp for the night, and it’s hard to discern how much of a threat he is.

Lio is utterly unconcerned when they report back, waving a hand at their description, “He’ll either find us or he won’t. He’s Burnish, we protect our own.”

And that’s that.

At least, that’s that until the hushed sounds of Gueira arguing with someone wakes Meis up.

It’s Gueira’s watch, and Lio should sleep when he can- but that voice doesn’t sound like Lio’s. Meis sits up, and the arguing stops long enough for him to take in Gueira sitting knee-to-knee with someone with a flaming blue mohawk that flares up every time he speaks.

“What’s happening?” Meis directs the question at Gueira, who’s clenching and unclenching his fists, eyes narrowed.

“This idiot wants us to call off tomorrow’s plan,” he jerks his thumb back at the stranger, whose mouth is set in a determined line.

“At least let me talk to Lio-”

Both Meis and Guiera scoff at that, “Tell you what,” Meis offers, “if you can wake him up without getting hurt, you can talk to him.”

The stranger’s blue eyes light up, “Deal!”

Gueira and Meis exchange a look, before standing up to lead the stranger further back into the cave.

Lio’s sleeping with his back against a wall, curled up. The stranger goes and sits by Lio’s side, reaching out an arm that lights in blue flames that reach further to engulf Lio fully. Meis holds up an arm when Gueira shifts, not looking away from the pair.

The flames dancing across Lio’s body begin to flair purple and green- the color of Lio’s fire- before the stranger speaks, voice suddenly loud in the silence the cave had fallen into.

“Lio, I’m gonna burrito you if you don’t wake-”

“Burrito me, coward,” Lio cuts him off, yawning and reaching out towards the stranger, before jolting upright, “Galo?!”

“Okay, wait. What the fuck?”

Galo musses his hair in frustration, before rushing onto his motorcycle. He can hear Aina yell after him, but he doesn’t care.

As soon as he’s outside city limits, he pulls off the road into desert, letting out enough flame to create extra support for his bike so he can ride over the sand faster.

He’s almost far enough out of city limits to pull on his armour without being seen when he registers the sound of another motorcycle behind him.

He grits his teeth and swivels his bike into a stop facing whoever’s following him, ready to growl out that it’s, _“Not the time, Meis.”_ Only to blink and quickly force away the urge to _burn_ at the sight of Aina’s bright pink bike quickly getting closer.

He quickly pulls his flames away from his bike so she wouldn’t notice any enhancements. That’s right, Meis- along with Gueira and Lio- are in jail right now.

Aina pulls to a stop beside him with a huff.


	3. Chapter 3

Galo was four when he stopped getting marks from his soulmate.

No more bruises, cuts or wounds, no words. Only a feeling of devastating loss and desperation.

(He’s too busy drowning in the horrified words of his parents- claims that without marks his soulmate’s gone- to realize that the feelings aren’t all his own.)

A week later his house went up in flames, and all of his feelings went up in overwhelming waves to match.

(He’s too busy drowning in grief to realize the feeble feelings of reassurance he’ll have in brief flashes are more than his own attempts at finding good things.)

He stays with his grandfather until he graduates, finding hope in things like Matoi and the fact that he’s on track to be a firefighter. His savior Kray comes to visit every so often, for things like his graduation and birthdays.

He never has a mark from his soulmate. There are times when he’ll feel a tingling sensation that heralds a wound or mark, but whenever he checks the spot there’s nothing.

He’s fairly sure no one could heal that fast.

—

“What was that…?” Galo clutches his burnt arm and stares after the trails of fire.

“Mad Burnish,” Aina answers, and she continues explaining but Galo is busy assessing the damage to his arm.

He lifts his uninjured arm, noting a black spot where ash must have fallen.

Only to stop, and stare. Words. He has words on his _arm_.

“Aina,” his voice is subdued in awe, as though if he speaks to loud the writing will be scared away.

She turns quickly, she may not have known Galo long, but she can tell him being quiet is important.

“Do you see this?” he extends his arm so that she can see.

“The writing? Your soulmate must be worri-”

Galo chokes on a disbelieving laugh, “You see it!”

Aina frowns, “You should get checked out-”

“They’re alive!”

Galo’s tearful smile strikes Aina first, before his words sink in. A feeling of… something heavy and _wrong_ settles like a rock in her stomach, “What do you mean, Galo?” her words are stilted, drawn out in concern.

“I haven’t gotten anything since…” he falters, and Aina has taken enough trauma training courses to know to drop this.

“Want a pen?” she asks, and Galo looks at her like he’s being given the world. Something in her chest _pings_ in affection, and her soft smile begins to feel like burnt plastic.

She gets him a pen and treats his burn and resolves to get over him as quick as possible, ignoring her own soulmate’s old words of, ‘You deserve happiness and experiences before you find me’.

And as Galo looks so happy before her, she can’t help but be happy for him and his soulmate.

Galo can’t stop reading the simple words, _Are you alright?_ over and over. His grip on the pen is tight even as his hand shakes. He’s not sure what to say, and because his relief and excitement are overwhelmingly obvious, he can pick out the concern that contrasts his own feelings.

For the first time since he was four, he has enough clarity to focus on parsing out his own emotion from his soulmate’s, and his soulmate has a strong enough emotion for Galo to feel it.

The emotion fades soon after his wave of jubilance placates his soulmate’s concern, and he can’t help his large smile.

A couple of hours later, as he redoes the bandages around his arm, he feels a strong sense of conviction that he can now recognize as his soulmate’s, and he rushes to the mirror to draw a shaky smiley face on his cheek, lamenting the fact that he has nowhere else he could write that his soulmate would see it, with one of his arms out of commission.

He has a flash of (slightly fond) exasperation soon after, presumably when his soulmate noticed, and he goes to bed with a smile.

As soon as his arm is healed enough for him to use that hand to write, he writes his name, phone number, and- after debating a heart- a smiley face. And then he waits, renewing the ink every day.

And waits.

And waits.

For _nothing._

He lets the ink fade.

—

Lio’s arm tingles, and while he’s used to his soulmate getting injured, this pins-and-needles feeling is strong enough for him to strip off his jacket.

He’s burnt. He hasn’t seen a burn since he was five and his powers manifested.

Lio has two realizations in that moment. The first is that his soulmate can’t be burnish, and the second is that the pain must be excruciating.

As this realization comes over him, so does an overwhelming sense of concern.

Lio hasn’t had a chance to use a real writing utensil in… he’s not sure how long. He’s studied languages by talking with other burnish and indenting characters into sand with his finger. He’s never felt the loss immensely, because his soulmate seems to have every emotion dialed up to 100 at all times. Now, though…

He manages to form a pen with fire, and ink by melting sand to mix with dirt. The characters sting a bit as he writes on his skin, but stay well enough.

He feels the tingling intensify on his burnt arm as his soulmate takes his uninjured hand off it. And then there’s a sense of disbelief followed quickly by joy and relief so potent Lio finds himself smile giddily, his concern ebbing away.

A whirring brings him out of his thoughts, and freeze force flies high overhead.

Lio follows, saves and reforms Mad Burnish, the conviction in his words and the skill he displayed bringing hope to his people.

Meis and Guiera point out the smiley face on his cheek that evening, and Lio sighs with a bittersweet smile.

If there’s one thing he has to take away from his realizations today, it’s that without his soulmate being burnish, he can’t communicate.

He can’t bring danger to their life.

—

It’s not until his left arm no longer tingles that Lio sees writing again.

It’s completely by chance that he even notices it, the light tingling on his hand and wrist occurring around the same time every morning isn’t noticed until Meis finds an oasis with enough water for them to bathe and the ink catches his eye.

There’s a phone number with a Promepolis area code, a smiley face, and a name.

Lio reads the name before he realizes what the nearly-faded marks are, and it. Hurts, the slightest bit. To know his name makes him more real. To know his name makes ignoring him harder. But to know his name also makes Lio even more determined to protect him.

(He memorizes the phone number of Galo Thymos.)

When they ride into Primepolis the next day, they have a plan- set a Foresite foundation building on fire, get the attention of rescue forces, and get captured when the rescue forces summon freeze force.

Lio has an additional plan, and Guiera and Meis help with phase one before moving across the street in respect for his privacy.

Lio will burn everything down to save them, and they’d do the same for him.

Lio spends a moment just staring at the pay phone, hoping his idea will work. He opens his palm, and pushes the contents into a slot. Coins made of fire thankfully fool the machine, and he dials the number that’s faded from his palm.

“Hello?” Galo Thymos has a nice voice, and Lio closes his eyes to memorize the sound.

“Galo Thymos,” Lio begins, and feels a wave of confusion from the bond.

“That’s me! Do I know you?”

Lio huffs a small laugh, “In a sense,” he murmurs before continuing in a strong voice, “Listen Galo Thymos, you should leave Primeopolis for the day.”

“Sorry, whoever you are, but I’m on call today.”

“Call?” Lio shifts his weight.

“I’m a fireman, dude, a great one!”

Lio’s breath catches in his throat, and an unfamiliar chill pricks his bones. His soulmate is a fireman. A fireman. Against burnish. An enemy. “I,” he chokes out, and from the other side Galo’s voice goes soft.

“You okay? You don’t sound-”

Lio hangs up.

He takes a moment to compose himself, Galo’s concern and confusion washing over him like ice.

He hates ice.

There’s a pen on the floor of the booth, and Lio picks it up and writes a single word just under the edge of his glove.

Mad Burnish begins the operation, Lio ignores the hurt and worry through the bond.

Sirens go off, Galo moves on to focus on saving people, and Lio waits.

The plan goes a bit sideways, with Meis and Guiera being brought down before freeze force arrives. Lio hates to admit it, but that Matoi Tech is more impressive than he expected.

Lio isn’t ready for the name “Galo Thymos” to be claimed by the man who captured him. He isn’t ready to accept any of it. And yet.

“Lio Fotia,” he says in return.

He doesn’t flinch at the tingling in his head when Galo’s coworker bonks him in the head, leans away from both Galo and Vulcan when Freeze Force finally shows, and does his best to ignore that he feels even warmer with Galo near.

When Vulcan grabs Galo, thankfully no one’s looking at him. He’s lucky Vulcan’s grip on Galo’s face didn’t leave more than a faint redness.

As they fly away, Lio’s tears of frustration and anger are well hidden. (The scribbled _Bye_ on his palm itches.)

He makes sure Galo Thymos feels his anger when Thyma asks him what they did to deserve this. (He knows Galo’s overjoyed in that moment, knows from the screens on their walk to the cell that he’s being awarded a medal.)

(He wonders how Galo would feel if he knew Lio’s identity.)

They break out, and Lio can’t help but wonder if somehow Galo knows the Burnish are escaping, because Galo’s happiness becomes confusion, fury, and a hopeless sort of justice in a matter of minutes. (His jaw tingles from Vulcan again, and Lio desperately hopes against his will that Vulcan’s the cause of Galo’s upset.)

They shelter in a cave, Meis and Gueira heading out to get trucks while Lio stands watch.

Now that he knows how it feels, to have Galo close to him, it’s not hard to tell he’s approaching. Galo’s apprehension and horror as he lowers his freeze gun to see a _child_ is cut off abruptly when Lio knocks him out.

Lio can tell when Galo wakes up, his confusion and then recognition almost overwhelming with the close proximity, as well as his actual volume.

“My name is Lio Fotia,” Lio holds back the ache in his chest, “Memorize it.”

—

More tingling, especially on his face and his gut. As always, there’s nothing there when he checks. And yet… he knows his soulmate is out there, even with how little they write.

What Lio said in the cave about healing… WAIT!

When Heris gives him his last meal, when he yells at her, when she stalls at the door, he hangs his head.

“If this is my last supper, I want a marker.”

Heris turns, and though her glasses conceal her eyes, Galo can tell she’s conflicted.

“I want to say goodbye,” he whispers, and Heris wavers.

She reaches into a pocket of her coat, “A pen.” And then she’s gone, leaving his to his last day.

Galo wastes no time pressing the pen to his skin. **Hey are u burnish?? No shade, just wondering.**

Just as he’s writing the last word, a blind rush of desperation and panic leaves him dizzy. There’s a tingling in his throat, as though his soulmate had drank a hot drink or screamed his throat raw, and then everything goes eerily cold.

Galo has about an hour to panic and wonder if his soulmate’s actually dead this time before an acute feeling of pure, unfiltered _grief_ stabs his soul followed by a visceral rage that’s bitter on his tongue, all consuming and strong enough to bring Galo to his knees.

And then he’s free.


	4. Chapter 4

Lio sees her first when handing out temporary ID request forms, a shock of blue hair that he would almost mistake for Galo’s if Galo hadn’t been texting Lio about Lucia having him test a new gadget not even ten minutes beforehand.

As the line shuffles forward, he sees her more clearly, as well as the woman with silver-streaked blue hair guiding her forward. A mother and her daughter, both of whom look so similar to Galo. Maybe they were distant relatives? Galo’s only mentioned his grandfather as extended family.

When they reach him, Lio smiles gently, asking them about how their lives in the shelter are and how they’re faring without the Promare. It’s mostly the daughter who answers, and the mother relaxes with every friendly word, “Veri is turning 18 in almost a week. Should we fill out forms as though she’s an adult?”

Lio nods, “It’s doubtful everything will be processed in less than a week, according to the lawyers. Can I have both of your names so I can get back to you?”

“Veri and Hestia Thymos.”

Lio hides his shock, trying his best to keep his hands from shaking, “Any relation to Galo Thymos?”

Hestia blanches, clenching her fists as Veri looks between them, confused.

“Yes. Can we talk in private?” Hestia’s voice seems to barely not be shaking, and Lio’s struck with the question of if she knows Galo’s alive.

Looking behind them, though, he can’t keep the rest of his people waiting.

“Ms Thymos, I can’t talk right now because I have to hand the rest of these out and make sure everyone’s okay.”

She opens her mouth to protest, but Lio holds up a hand to stop her before ripping a page out of the notebook he’d been using to track forms and scribbling on it, “Meet me there at 7:00pm Saturday? My phone number is also on there.”

Hestia presses her lips together, taking the paper, “Thank you boss.”

Hestia and Veri walk away, and Lio squares his shoulders. His people come first.

—

“Hey Galo?” Lio’s whisper is loud in the quiet of the night, even as it’s muffled by Galo’s chest.

Lio’d gotten home to find Galo nearly asleep, which is fair seeing as the sun had long since set.

Galo grumbles into his hair, which Lio takes as a sign to continue, “Do you remember anything about your family?”

Galo’s breath hitches and his arms tighten around Lio, “Not really.”

His voice has a subdued quality to it, and Lio shifts to tell Galo he doesn’t have to, But Galo holds him in place and continues, “I know my dad was loud, and I looked up to him a lot. My mom was the one who cut my hair. I was an only child but,” Lio can feel Galo’s tears and his heart aches, “My mom was pregnant when Kray set the fire.”

Lio rubs Galo’s back comfortingly, murmuring sweet nothings to him until his sobs petter off into sleep.

Shit.

—

Lio’s phone buzzes insistently against the table, and Lio wants to scream because he’s been working tirelessly all day and just wants to eat lunch in peace.

After contemplating banging his head into the table, he picks up the call, “Lio Fotia speaking.”

“Hi, this is Veri Thymos.”

Lio looks around the room quickly. Remi’s reading a book, Aina is painting her nails, and Galo isn’t here.

“What can I do for you today Veri?” he keeps him voice even, leaning back in his chair.

“My mom told me that her burnish awakening burned down her house when she was pregnant with me, and that it. Killed my dad and brother, Galo,” she takes a deep breath, “How did you know Galo’s name?”

Lio puts the information together in his head. Kray Foresite set Galo’s house on fire. Galo’s mom had her burnish awakening from that. Galo’s family has been on the run and doesn’t know he’s alive. Holy shit.

“Veri I want you to tell your mom that she did not kill anyone,” he starts, voice even but deep with rage as Veri takes a sharp inhale on the other end of the line, “Tell her Kray Foresite is the reason she became burnish, and-”

A sharp cry of, “GALO! What the FUCK!” cuts him off, and he looks up to see Aina’s nail polish splashed on the table and Galo apologizing to Aina for knocking into the table.

“Wha-” Veri’s voice shakes.

“Lio who’re you talking to?” Galo asks, hiding from Aina’s wrath.

Lio decides to bite the bullet, “Your sister.”

Galo frowns, “Not funny.”

“No, Galo. I didn’t want this to happen like this-” he puts the phone on speaker, “Veri, talk to him please. And get your mom.”

“Wait what do I say!? I didn’t know he existed until-”

“Veri?” she’s cut off by a voice Lio recognizes as Hestia’s, “what’s going on? Why are you screaming?”

“I’m talking with Lio-”

“I told you not to until I had a chance to meet him!”

“You can’t just tell me I have a brother and expect-!” Veri sounds furious, and Galo looks more and more confused as the conversation goes on.

“You _had_ a brother! The house burnt down because of _me_ and Galo’s _gone_ Veri!”

Galo grabs the phone from Lio’s hand, “Veri, come to Burning Rescue Firehouse 3,” he says into the mic before hanging up.

“Galo-” Lio begins softly, before being cut off.

“How did you find out?” Galo’s voice is toneless.

“I met them yesterday when handing out ID forms,” Lio stares at his hands, unable to meet Galo’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Galo’s voice breaks, and Lio can feel his heart crack along with it.

“I wasn’t sure until she called me,” Lio draws in a breath, “You’ve been hurt enough and I didn’t want to be wrong and hurt you more.”

“Lio,” Galo’s hands appear in Lio’s vision, tilting his head up gently to meet Galo’s eyes. They’re brimming with tears, and Lio vaguely registers the sounds of Aina being ushered out of the room by Remi. “You don’t have to protect me.”

“I want to,” Lio wills Galo to feel his sincerity, “I care about you and don’t want you hurt.” Galo smiles, before the tears brimming his eyes spill over, “They’re alive!” he wails, collapsing into Lio’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Do not ask for me to continue or finish any of these. I will not.  
> That being said, feel free to continue some of these concepts as long as you don't steal/take credit for my work.  
> Feel free to comment though! If you have an idea and I find it interesting enough I _may_ write it ;)


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